“The temp destroyed it. Before you jump to conclusions”—Reine-Marie had heard his grunt—“you need to know that the temp’s job was to enter data, contemporary data, on the students, but since she had Professor Norman’s file out for Peter, she simply scanned everything in. And then she destroyed the original. That’s why the registrar couldn’t find it.”

“But that means an electronic version exists,” he said.

“Exactly. The registrar is emailing it to me. We will, of course, be long dead by the time it downloads. So I asked her to give me some of the highlights.”

“And?”

“Sébastien Norman taught at the art college only one year. As I told you before, it was Massey who recommended him for the job. But what was in the files that was so valuable was a note from Norman asking that his last check be sent to Baie-Saint-Paul. Peter must’ve seen that and gone there to find him.”

“But by then Norman had long since disappeared,” said Gamache. “We might have another lead. Norman had a gallery where he sent his works. They might still represent him. Professor Massey met Norman in Toronto when he was starting his career. Maybe the gallery was in Toronto.”

“And they’d have his current address,” said Reine-Marie. “But there’re a lot of galleries in Toronto.”

“True, but Professor Massey might know,” said Armand.

“Do you want me to call him?”

“It’ll be too late to call him,” said Armand. “He’d have gone home by now.”

“Not necessarily. I think Professor Massey lives at the college, in his studio.”

“Really? How strange.”

“I suppose he has everything he needs there,” said Reine-Marie. “I’ll try.”

One professor was expelled, thought Gamache as he hung up. One professor never left.

Reine-Marie called back a few minutes later.

“No answer. Maybe he doesn’t live there. I’ll try him again in the morning.”

“Did the registrar say where Professor Norman was from? What part of Québec?”

“I didn’t ask, but it might be in the file.”

“Can you forward it to me as soon as you get it, s’il te plaît?”

They talked for a few more minutes, quiet, private conversation, then Gamache returned to the kitchen to find that Beauvoir had just arrived back as well.

“Anything?” the others asked in unison.

“Patron?” Beauvoir gestured for Gamache to go first.

“Reine-Marie’s expecting an email from the college with Professor Norman’s file. Did you know that it was Professor Massey who put Norman forward for the job?”

Judging by Clara’s face, she didn’t.

“What would possess him to do that?”